The provision of adequate protective devices for boats of all sizes in commercial marinas as well as in private docking areas has been an increasing problem with the very rapid increase in the number of pleasure boats ranging from small open boats to large yachts. Many lake and seaside resorts, hotels, restaurants, etc., provide private docking areas, for example, to lure boating enthusiasts to their establishments. In such establishments, the owners assume responsibility for the safety of the boats in regards to their own facilities. Particularly in seaside areas, where the tides as well as widely varying degrees of wave action must be reckoned with, the bumpers or protective devices on pilings which are deeply embeded in the bottom of the water area must be frequently replaced to provide adequate protection, particularly for larger boats. The pilings generally define boat slips as well as being rather closely spaced along the lengths of docking piers, and the rub rails, generally around the top edges of boat hulls, beat constantly against the bumpers on protective devices which are designed to cushion the constant impacts to prevent damage to the boats.
Consequently, the protective devices currently in general usage are quite expensive and relatively short lived because of the constant beatings they receive. Their replacement requires their complete removal from the pilings from well below the water level to a substantial distance above water level and new protective devices must be fastened in palce, resulting in a substantial labor cost which must be added to the cost of the protective devices.
Therefore, one of the principal objects of the present invention is to provide a protective device for docked boats for vertical attachment relative to support means such as a piling which includes a carriage means such as an elongated H-beam which is permanently fixed to a piling from a point well below the water level to a desired elevation above the water level, and protective means such as a cylindrical member provided with a T-slot along one side thereof for sliding reception of an outer T-portion of the H-beam.
Another principal object of the present invention is to provide cylindrical protective members constructed in a manner whereby two or more of said members may be slidingly engaged on a single H-beam in an end to end relation to accommodate any desired extensions beneath and above water level.
A further object of the instant invention is to provide protective means for docked boats which can be replaced in a minimal amount of time by simply sliding the old protective members vertically upwardly from the H-beam and replacing them by sliding new protective members vertically downwardly onto the H-beam.
Yet another object of the present invention is to form the tubular protective members of a suitable inexpensive high impact semi-flexible plastic material.